The Anti-Hit List: Neko Case covers Nico on Afraid

Also Polica, X-Ray Charles, Bob Dylan and more

Neko Case covers the similarly named Nico, the former Velvet Underground singer, on "Afraid," from Case's upcoming album The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You.

The rationale for this left-field Arcade Fire cover is tucked at the end of a humble brag: having had everyone from Kanye West to Katy Perry “covering and sampling our songs over the past years,” the band reminds us on its website, “we agreed that some reciprocal cross-generational love was in order.” Good thing the results more than justify that thinly camouflaged horn-blowing. Alternating between the church and the dance floor, it starts out as hymn-like but ultimately resolves itself as a drum-’n’-bass track. It’s as though the song is remixing itself on the fly. (http://bit.ly/19F1uY5)

9. YOUSEF AND THE ANGEL

“Float Away”

The work of London club heavyweight Yousef and his new protégé vocalist, this breezy anthem sits easily along a line dotted by Everything But the Girl’s “Missing,” Imogen Heap/Frou Frou’s “Let Go,” Dido’s “Here With Me,” and pretty much every Sarah McLachlan remix you vaguely remember hearing. (http://bit.ly/1cqwXgG)

8. THE JAMES HUNTER SIX

“It Won’t Be Long”

What’s the most left-field move anyone could make on this tune from The Beatles’ second album (which, incredibly, turns 50 this fall)? In a word or two: going ska. With Hunter’s croaky British vocals riding over a thick bed of horns and a bouncy Jamaican rhythm, this benefits greatly from the tension between the singing and the song. Part of a front-to-back remake of With the Beatles, featuring Wreckless Eric and Squeeze’s Chris Difford, among others. Thanks to Mark Ehmcke for the tip. (From We’re With The Beatles, with August’s Mojo magazine, http://bit.ly/18Em6uZ)

7. MARY CASSIDY AND JON LAWLESS

“Make It Do”

Given the acoustic roots of both halves of this Guelph duo, this first taste of an upcoming EP is something of a surprise. Essentially a couple’s dialogue, it evokes, fleetingly, Peter Gabriel’s “San Jacinto” and New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle” more than anything by boys and girls with acoustic guitars. (http://bit.ly/16Qa5mP)

6. AVICII

“You Make Me”

It may not draw the media saturation being lavished upon looming releases by Drake, Nine Inch Nails, MGMT or Justin Timberlake, but the debut by Swedish DJ/phenom Tim Bergling could end up being to the fall what Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories was to the summer: a dance album that reaches far outside its natural constituency. (Not coincidentally, it, too, features suddenly ubiquitous Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers.) This follow-up to “Wake Me Up” — which cracked 100 million views on YouTube — doesn’t stray as far outside its genre as its acoustic-based predecessor, but it doesn’t exactly adhere to it, either. Come to think of it, you could make the same observation about Daft Punk. (From True, out Sept. 13, http://bit.ly/1eZAoYQ)

5. MIMI PAGE AND SPITFIRE

“Baker Street

This cover version’s primary innovation is evident from the get-go: the monolithic sax riff that elevated this Gerry Rafferty hit is plinked out on piano. That contrary approach perfectly suits this L.A. dream-pop/trip-hop artist, who brings her own beats and leaves the production team of Warren Huart and Phil Allen, a.k.a. Spitfire, to handle the more traditional bits. The result lingers for a surprisingly long time, no small feat given the staying power of the original. (From Echoes of My Mind, http://bit.ly/12nbAqU)

4. BOB DYLAN

“Pretty Saro”

One of the previously unreleased recordings on volume 10 of Dylan’s Bootleg Series, this English folksong from the 1700s is delivered in his phlegmy Nashville Skyline croon, which means you can make out not only every word of the lyrics, but every note of the melody. An outtake from 1970’s Self Portrait, an album so prodigiously maligned at the time that the imminent critical re-evaluation should be severe enough to engender whiplash. (From Another Self Portrait, http://bit.ly/1347BCg)

3. X-RAY CHARLES

“Field Recordings of Animal Noises”

The mesh of lo-fi noisiness that envelops this tiny gem both enhances and obscures its virtues. Held together by an acoustic-guitar lick that evokes The Kinks’/The Jam’s “David Watts,” this leadoff track to the New Zealand duo’s second minialbum forces you to crane your ears to fully discern the infectious melody at the song’s heart. An intriguing release from a new, cassette-fixated collective, Melted Ice Cream. (From Selph Titled, http://bit.ly/14TRIZy)

2. POLICA

“Chain My Name”

For that twisted minority among you who are already getting itchy for the onset of fall, these Minneapolis indie darlings (Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon is an unabashed fan) have just the thing for you: a driving, keyboard-laden, minor-chord-loving slap in the face to summer. Break out the autumn sweaters. (From Shulamith, out Oct. 22, http://bit.ly/16qT4Pd)

1. NEKO CASE

“Afraid”

The symmetry must’ve been irresistible: Neko covers Nico. Beyond the conceptual cuteness, however, is one of the most disconcerting lyrics ever to pass as a “pop” song, wrapped up in one of the most elegantly simple melodies to grace an album this year. Here is the opening verse to the song, which originally appeared (http://bit.ly/tmxbYF) on the ex-Velvet Underground singer’s unheralded third album, Desertshore: “Cease to know or to tell/Or to see or to be your own/Have someone else’s will as your own . . . You are beautiful and you are alone.” In Case’s hands, every bit of the terror and consolation lurking in those lines comes through, soft and clear. (From The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You, out Sept. 3, http://n.pr/1cSmNGU)

VIDEO

THE FINE BROTHERS

“Teens React to Robin Thicke — Blurred Lines”

Forget everything you’ve read about this heavy-breathing candidate for the so-called song of the summer. The most pointed commentary about the single’s divisive effect on listeners is contained in the unmediated expressions on the faces of this teen panel. As for the actual verbal commentary, here’s one example: “When I listen to the song, it’s not even that my life is not any better afterwards, it’s that my life is actually a little bit worse,” notes one participant, “because I feel like I’ve become a lesser being.” And then there are the mean comments. (http://bit.ly/14YO9p1)

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